Not meant to love
by Gibbsbynature
Summary: Once upon a time a woman cast a curse to give her the life she always wanted, what if she had a brother one who contains a long forgotten gift though he'd say it's a curse. Join the on a journey through Storybrooke
1. Chapter 1: prologue

Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is the property of ABC Studios. No Claim to ownership intended. This is an adaptation of The Evil Queen's Brother by 64thVanSul read his story at

Chapter 1

Over twenty-eight years ago, in a land called the Enchanted Forest, the handsome Prince Charming dressed in red rode his steed hoping to win his race against time. As he rode further into the forest, he came upon the sight he prayed he wouldn't have to meet; Snow White, the woman he loved, lying in a glass coffin surrounded by seven weeping dwarves. At this sight of his true love, Charming too began to silently cry.

"You're too late." Doc said sadly.

"No, no!" Charming refused, "Open it." he demanded.

"I'm sorry, she's gone." Grumpy apologized.

"At least let me say goodbye." he pleaded. Understanding the prince's pain, the dwarves removed the glass covering Snow White's face. Charming then kneeled down to kiss his love one last time and not a second after their lips met, a wave of magic erupted from them. It was then that Snow White woke up with a loud gasp causing everyone around her to be filled with joy.

"You found me." she said to her prince.

"Did you ever doubt I would?" he asked playfully.

"Truthfully, the class coffin gave me pause." she replied happily.

"You never have to worry," Charming reassured, "I will always find you."

"Do you promise?" Snow asked.

Months later at their wedding, Charming gave his response. "I promise."

"And do you, Snow White, take this man to be your husband and love him for all eternity?" asked the minister.

"I do." she said smiling like never before, not once taking her eyes off of Charming.

"Then by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife." the minister declared causing the huge crowd around them to cheer at the top of their lungs. But just as they were about to have their first kiss as husband and wife, the Evil Queen, dressed in black, interrupted them simply with her presence.

"Sorry I'm late." she mocked darkly as she approached the happy couple. As two guards attempted to stop her, she simply waved her arms and sent them flying with her magic.

"It's the queen, run!" Doc cried while Snow took Charming's sword and pointed it at her step-mother.

"She's not the queen anymore!" she cried, "She's nothing more than an evil witch!"

"Don't stoop to her level, there's no need." Charming coaxed before he spoke to the queen, "You're wasting your time, you've already lost. And I will not let you ruin this wedding."

"Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything." sweetly corrected the Evil Queen, "On the contrary, dear, I've come to give you a gift."

"We want nothing from you!" Snow snapped.

"But you shall have it." the queen retorted, "My gift to you is this happy, happy day." she said in disgust, "But tomorrow, my real work begins. You've made your vows, now I make mine. Soon everything you love, everything all of you love will be taken from you. Forever. And out of your suffering will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness…if it is the last thing I do."

With nothing more to say, the Evil Queen sharply turned and made her way out of the castle. But just then, Charming cried out to her as he threw his sword. But just as it was about to impale her, she disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. In an instant later, Regina was back in her castle huffing in anger at the memory of Snow White's happiness.

"So," asked a young man, roughly a few years older than Snow, from a desk in the room, "How did it go?" He had dark blonde hair and wore a black button down shirt with the sleeve rolled up with matching black slacks accompanied by white suspenders. He also wore square reading glasses over his emerald green eyes and had his desk covered with papers and scientific equipment.

Regina responded by smacking a few perfume bottles off of her cabinet in anger before plopping on a love seat. "Regina?" he asked not wanting to poke the bear. "Vowing to destroy everyone's happiness. That's a pretty big task, do you honestly think you can live with the consequences?" he asked.

"I can and I will." Regina replied hotly as she stared at the outside view from her seat, "You don't believe I can do it, do you?" she asked as she glared at the young man.

"I don't want you to. But I care about your happiness more than you realize, I'm just saying that it's a steep road for revenge."he sighed

"He does prove a valid point, your Majesty." remarked the face of her magic mirror as Regina's father came in with a tray.

"Would you like something to drink?" Henry asked his daughter.

"Do I look like I need a drink?" she asked hotly.

"I was only trying to help." he defended gently as he handed her a glass of wine.

"Thank you." Regina replied as she calmed down. Henry then went over to the young man with a clay mug.

"Here's your coffee, Elias. Though I suggest you save it for later and get some rest."

"No time, I need to focus." Elias replied not taking his eyes off of his research, "Out of curiosity, how do you, you know plan on taking away their happiness?" he nervously asked Regina who smirked darkly.

"The dark curse." she replied.

Twenty-eight years later in a small town in Maine called Storybrooke, a young man named Elias was napping in his cozy little office he had in the large home he shared with his sister. He wore a cream long sleeve T-shirt and wore dark jeans and matching high tops he had propped on his desk.

His slumber was interrupted by his cell phone ringing in his pocket. With a groan and stretch he answered his phone. "Go for Elias." he said groggily.

"Elias, Henry's run away!" a frantic woman shouted on the other end.

"What?" he asked suddenly awake.

"He never showed up for school this morning- no one's seen him all day!"

"Okay, okay. Regina, calm down deep breaths." Elias soothed, "Everything'll be alright. Call Graham and tell him what happened and come back to the house."

"Okay, I'll be there soon." she replied no less worried. It wasn't until past midnight when Regina, who'd been staring out the window all day, spotted her son coming up the yard with a blonde woman wearing a red leather jacket.

"Henry!" Regina cried as she ran out to hug her son, "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?" she asked.

"I found my real mom!" Henry shouted as he ran into the house completely ignoring Graham and Elias.

"You're Henry's birth mother?" Regina asked trying to keep her emotions under control.

"Hi." the blonde sheepishly greeted.

"Oh, jeez." muttered Elias knowing that Regina was already unhappy.

"How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?" she offered.

"Got anything stronger?" the blonde asked. After leading her into the den, Elias poured the two ladies some cider while he got himself a bottle of beer. "How did he find me?" the blonde now known as Emma Swan asked.

"No idea," said Regina, "When I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. Records were sealed, I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact."

"You were told right."

"what about the father?" Elias asked.

"Doesn't even know. No reason to be worried about him, Mr…" Emma carried off.

"Elias, Regina's younger brother." he replied.

"Do we need to be worried about you, Ms. Swan?" Regina asked.

"Absolutely not." she reassured as Graham came down the stairs.

"Madam Mayor, you and your brother can relax. Other than being a tired little boy, Henry's fine." he informed.

"Thank you, Sheriff." Regina replied as he left, "I'm sorry he dragged you out of your life. I really don't know what's gotten into him lately."

"The kid's having a rough time," said Emma, "It happens."

"You have to understand, ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky. You have a job, I assume?" Regina asked.

"Uh, I keep busy. Yeah."

"Imagine having another one on top of it. That's being a single mom. So I push forward. Am I strict? I suppose. But I do it for his own good. I want Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?"

"I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairytale thing." Emma replied.

"What fairytale thing?" Elias asked after taking a drink of his beer.

"Oh, you know, his book. How he thinks everyone's a cartoon character from it. Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."

"I'm sorry, we really have no idea what you're talking about." Regina replied, she looked at her brother who just shrugged in confusion.

"You know what, it's none of my business. He's your kid. And I should really be heading back." Emma said hoping to avoid an awkward situation.

"Of course again so sorry about this." Elias nodded. After Emma had left, Elias and his sister went upstairs to talk with Henry only to find his door locked. "Hen-Henry, open the door!"

"Sweetie, we just want to talk." Elias reassured gently, his sister was a bit more upset.

"Henry, you know the rules: no locked doors in this house!" She yelledA minute later, Henry opened the door dressed in his pajamas and his hair messed up like he was already asleep before; not a bad trick, but Elias wasn't that easy to fool.

With a yawn Henry said, "What's up?"

"C'mon Henry I know you weren't asleep," Elias chuckled "I've pulled that card too many times for you to get away with it besides its," he then checked his watch and noticed how late it was, "Quarter 'til two... right, you can go back to bed. But tomorrow we'll need to have a serious talk. Got it?"

"Yes, Uncle Eli." Henry mumbled before his uncle and adoptive mother got on their knees and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Please don't ever do that again." he muttered as he stroked Henry's hair. The next morning, Regina went upstairs to wake up Henry for school while Elias made breakfast. As he was pouring himself a cup of coffee, Regina yelled from upstairs causing him to spill the hot liquid on his hand.

"Elias, Henry's gone!"

"Sigh, again?" he asked.

As quick as they could, the two siblings went to the Sheriff's Station and as soon as they went inside for Graham, they saw Emma behind the bars of one of the two cells. "What is she doing here? Do you know where he is?" Regina asked as she approached the cell.

"Lady, I haven't seen him since I dropped him off at your house." Emma replied, "And in case you haven't noticed, I got a pretty good alibi."

"Well, he wasn't in his room this morning." Regina retorted.

"Did you try his friends?" Emma asked.

"He doesn't really have any friends." Elias replied, "Unfortunately he finds it hard to connect with kids his age."

"Every kid has friends. Did you check his computer?" she asked, "If he's close to someone, he'd be emailing them."

"And you know this how?" Regina asked.

"Finding people is what I do. Here's an idea. How about you let me out and I'll help you find him."

"Done." Elias replied before Regina had time to think.

In Henry's room, Emma browsed through his computer hoping to find something. "Smart kid. He cleared his inbox. But I'm smart too. A little hard disk recovery utility I like to use…" Emma trailed as she used her little device.

"I'm a bit more old fashioned in my techniques." said Graham trying to sound cool, "Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing."

"You're on salary, I get paid for delivery." Emma replied, "Pounding the pavement is not a luxury that that I get." she said before pulling up the last website Henry went on. "There's a receipt for a pretty expensive website. He has a credit card?" she asked.

"He's ten." Regina bluntly replied.

"Well, he used one. Let's pull up a transaction record. Mary Margaret Blanchard." Emma informed, "Who's Mary Margaret Blanchard?"

"Henry's teacher," Elias replied with a sour look, he didn't exactly feel like watching his older sister act like a bully to the poor woman again. When they arrived at the classroom, they saw Mary Margaret say goodbye to her students as they left the room. She was a beautiful young woman with short black hair around Elias' age if not a year or two younger and had a natural friendly attitude.

"Madam Mayor, Elias, what are you doing here?" she asked slightly nervous at the sight of Regina.

"Where's my son?" she asked hotly.

"Henry? I assumed he was home with you."

"You'd think I'd be here if he was?"

"Regina, please knock it off" Nicholas warned as he began to grow annoyed with her attitude.

"Did you give him your credit card so he could find her?" Regina asked as she pointed at Emma.

"I'm sorry, who're you?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I'm-I'm his-"

"She's the woman who gave him up for adoption." Regina cut off.

"You don't happen to know anything about this, do you Mary?" Elias asked already knowing the answer.

"No, unfortunately not." Mary Margaret replied as she searched through her purse for her credit card, "Clever boy. I never should have given him that book."

"What in the hell is this damn book I keep hearing about?" snapped Regina.

"Just some old stories I gave him. As you well know, Henry is a special; so smart, so creative, and as you might be aware, lonely. He needed it." Mary Margaret replied.

"What he needs is a dose of reality." Regina countered, "This is a waste of time. Have a nice trip back to Boston." she said to Emma before leaving in a huff but not without knocking over some books.

"Well, that wasn't a nice thing to do." Elias muttered as he went over to pick up the books. "I'm so sorry about that, Mary Margaret you know how she gets when it comes to Henry."

"It's alright, Elias. I'm used to it." she replied as she helped him out, "Besides, I feel like this was partially my fault."

"How was giving Henry a book supposed to help?" Emma asked as the three of them began to walk through the hall.

"What do you think stories are for? The classics?" Mary Margaret asked, "There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn't always make sense. See, Regina hasn't always been the most easy going person."

"Yeah, she seems like a real…" Emma said before she and Mary Margaret realized who they were saying this around.

Elias noticed this and shrugged before saying, "Hard-ass, prima-donna, uptight? Ladies, I've been dealing with that woman for almost thirty years. I know better than anyone how she can get."

"Not only that, he's like any adopted child." Mary Margaret added, "He wrestles with that most basic question they all inevitably ask: why would anyone give me away." As soon as she said that, the young school teacher immediately regretted it and quickly apologized.

"It's okay." Emma replied.

"Look I gave him that book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have; hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."

"No arguments here." Elias agreed as he checked his watch, "Dammit! I'm late!" and with that, he ran out of the school as fast as he could. About twenty minutes later, Elias was on the roof of a strange little building he owned. He was working on a strange looking machine that was clearly hand made from scraps.

"Alright, it's almost ready." he muttered.

"I hope you don't plan on recreating your little 4th of July fiasco with that gadget of yours up there, Mister Mills." an older man wearing an expensive suit with a cane called from the ground.

"Oh, you kill one cat and seven squirrels with fireworks one time and suddenly you're a hazard to society." said Elias, "Sounds like you're still holding that against me, Mr. Gold." he yelled back in annoyance.

"On the contrary, I'm just being a good citizen and looking out for the safety of my neighbors." Gold replied flashing his gold tooth.

"Good citizen my ass" Elias scoffed, "You're just upset 'cause one of my Roman Candles broke your window."

"I still haven't received any compensation for that window." Gold reminded, "You may be the mayor's younger brother, Elias, but this is still my town."

"Oh, really?" he asked sarcastically, "Gee, and all this time I thought you were just wondering around town every day to show off that cane of yours and the compensation it has for you."

"And some people say that you're the genius of the town." mocked Gold.

"And other people say you're the Scrooge of the town." Elias shot back.

"Well, as much I do enjoy these little conversations of ours, I do have places to be." Gold relented, "Have a lovely day, Mister Mills. Oh, and tell that dear nephew of yours I said hello."

"Ooh, he gets on my nerves." Elias muttered before he continued to inspect his invention. It wasn't until hours later when he returned home only to see Henry in his room through his window and Regina steaming with anger in the den.

"So," Elias trailed as he sat in his usual leather chair and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his coat and lit one up, "How was your day?" he asked as he began to smoke.

"She's staying." Regina growled.

"Who?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"That Emma Swan. She's staying for the week at Granny's Inn."

"Really? You don't sound too happy about that."

"That woman is here to take away my son-your nephew. How could I be happy?" Regina snapped.

"Really Regina? Is she?" Nicholas asked bluntly as he continued to smoke, "You're being paranoid. All she wants is for Henry to be happy, to be safe."

"Safe from what, Eli?" his sister asked hotly.

"Anything that would hurt him. But if you continue to make yourself look bad in front of her, that perspective will change to where she will want to protect him from you." he warned as he stare blankly at Regina's glare, "She may not have raised him, but that woman has just as much maternal instinct as you do for that boy. And if you start a battle with her, the one who gets hurt in the end will be Henry. He already thinks you're evil, try not to make it worse for yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them could hear the sound of the town's old clock tower chime; for the first time since anyone could remember. "Well, whaddya know? The clock's started ticking." Elias chuckled with a wistful smile while his sister continued to glare at him.


	2. Chapter 2: the thing you love most

Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is the property of ABC Studios. No Claim to ownership intended. This is an adaptation of The Evil Queen's Brother by 64thVanSul read his story at

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Elias once again made breakfast for his family with a happy grin on his face. He made Henry his favorite oatmeal with black berries, Regina a cup of coffee with cream and one sugar with cinnamon toast, and a simple black coffee for himself. He then heard the sound of his nephew come down the stairs and watched him come in looking handsome in his school uniform.

"Morning, bed head." Elias teased, it was what he called Henry every morning when he came down to eat even when his hair was neatly combed.

"Morning." Henry replied, though it wasn't as cheerful as it used to be. As he sat down, he looked down at the bowl and looked nervous all of a sudden.

"Better eat that while it's still hot, kiddo." Elias suggested while munching on his toast.

"I don't like apples." Henry muttered as he scooped the oatmeal and let it drop back into the bowl.

"it's honey oat, Henry." Elias sighed as he held up the box, "I bought it for you because you said that you didn't like apples anymore last week. Which is odd considering that your mom and I have been feeding you apples your whole life straight from the tree outside. Then again, most people do grow tired of eating something if they eat a lot of it, so given that you've been eating them just about every other day for a little over nine years I guess you could already be growing tired of them." he mused as he became lost in thought. It was then that his sister came down from her room with Henry's book in her hands.

"The missing pages, where are they?" she asked as she held it in front of her son across the kitchen island.

Henry shrugged and said, "It's an old book, stuff's missing. What do you care?"

"I care because you think I'm some Evil Queen." Regina replied, "And that hurts me, Henry. I'm your mother."

"No, you're not." Henry sneered.

"Well, then, who is?" she asked, "That woman you brought here? I don't like what she or this book are doing to you. Thankfully both are no longer an issue."

But Henry just scoffed and left his chair leaving his uncle and mother to talk. "What are you talking about, both are longer an issue?" Nicholas asked, "what are you planning to do to Ms swan?"

Regina only smirked at the question before she picked up a basket and headed outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The dark curse." replied the Evil Queen causing Elias to spit and choke on his coffee.

"Are you sure, your Majesty?" Henry asked.

"But you said you'd never use it." the magic mirror reminded in fear.

"You made a deal when you gave away that curse." Henry added.

"You traded it away. Sister She will not be happy to see you." Elias warned.

"Since when do I care about anyone else's happiness but mine?" she asked with venom in her voice, "Prepare the carriage. You're coming with me to the Forbidden Fortress."

"What!?" he asked. "No no no, not after last time"

Later that day, the Evil Queen and Elias arrived at the Forbidden Fortress and sat before a fire as Maleficent spoke with them. "How are you, dears?" she asked.

"We're doing fine." Regina replied trying to sound friendly. Elias just sat there uncomfortably as Maleficent took own seat as she winked at him. This sent disgusted shivers down Elias's spine.

"Are you? If it were me, I'd be simply tortured, watching that flake of snow so happy." Maleficent commented, "Weren't you about the same age when you were to be married before she ruined it all?" she asked, "Yes, you were."

"Yes, it was about the same age you were when that sleeping beauty got the best of you, my dear Maleficent." Regina retorted while Elias stared vacantly.

"I soldiered on, as will you, hopefully."

"Enough games." Regina interrupted, "You know why we're here. I need my curse back."

"It's not yours anymore." Maleficent replied, "A deal's a deal. I gave you my sleeping curse."

"Which failed. Undone by a simple kiss." Regina reminded, "Now please, return what's mine."

"The dark curse? Really?" Maleficent asked.

"Unfortunately so, I tried to talk her out of it but she's set on this curse, so please hand it over" Stated Elias

"The both of you must know that even its unholy power can bring back the one Regina loved from the dead." Maleficent reminded, "Besides, wasn't destroying one kingdom enough for you, Nicholas?"

Elias's head shot up his eyes burning hatred his hands crushing the thick oak table they sat at as his anger began to show itself, "Watch it, fairy. I gave that name up along time ago" he warned with a growl.

"You should consider a pet, Regina." Maleficent suggested smirking as she stroked the mane of the little black unicorn at her side. "They can be quite the comfort."

"The only comfort for me is Snow White's suffering." Regina replied.

"Well, it's her wedding night. I doubt she's suffering right now." remarked Maleficent.

Elias ignored her comment as he pulled out his pipe and lit it.

"I need that curse." Regina stressed, "We know you keep it hidden in the orb above your staff."

"Hidden for the good of all, old friend." she replied playfully, "Whoever created that monstrosity makes the three of us look positively…moral. Who did give it to you?"

"Where I got it is none of your concern." Regina responded as she rose from her seat. The wind began to whip and the furniture began to shake. "Hand it back!" she demanded as Elias stood by her side.

"Must we do this?" Maleficent asked.

"Alas, we must." Elias replied as he tucked away his pipe. Regina made the first move by throwing a ball of fire at Maleficent who easily deflected it. Although, Elias wanted to assist his sister, he couldn't bring himself to harm an old friend, noticing this Regina scowled and used magic to pick up a rack filled with weapons, and tossed all the razor sharp blades at Maleficent's pet.

"No!" Maleficent cried as she defended both herself and it. Taking the chance, Regina used her magic to trap the fallen fairy with an iron chandelier above her and tightened it around her with the weapons pointed within an inch of her face.

Elias then picked up her staff, smashed the orb and took the scroll which held the dark curse. "If you two are going to kill me, kill me." Maleficent spat.

"Why would I do that?" asked Regina, "You're my only friend."

"Don't do this." she pleaded, "This curse-there are lines even we shouldn't cross. All power comes with a price. Enacting it will take a terrible toll. It will leave an emptiness inside you-both of you. A void you will never be able to fill."

"So be it." Regina said flatly as she transported herself and Elias back to their castle in a cloud of smoke. It took nearly eight months to gather the necessary ingredients for the curse. On the night Regina decided to cast it, she summoned a group of the foulest creatures she knew of so they may fulfil their purpose for the curse. Both Henry and Elias stood at her sides as she gave her speech.

"Who among us is tired of losing? That's why I called you here, to put an end to our misery." Regina informed as her father handed her each of the ingredients which tossed into the fire before them all. "Today we claim victory and move to a new, better realm. A place where we can finally win. But first, I need something from you; a lock of hair from those with the darkest souls. You must trust me, because if you don't, there are other ways." she warned.

As soon as she said this, she used her magic to make the branches of the surrounding trees come closer and closer to her guests' necks. Needless to say, they quickly tossed pieces of their hair into the fire.

"A wise decision. All that remains is the final ingredient: a prized heart," Regina said as Henry presented her with the heart, "From my childhood steed. The glorious beast whose passing will fuel our victory. Let my wrath be unleashed."

As the heart was tossed into the fire, the curse was activated and let loose a cyclone of purple smoke from the fire pit. However, it didn't last more than a few seconds leaving everyone confused as to why it didn't work. After that, a little gnome began to laugh at Regina; her response was turning him into stone.

"Why didn't it work?" the Evil Queen asked herself.

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Coming out of Granny's Dinner in Storybrooke, Emma listened to Henry as he explained to her what exactly the curse was. "So what's the deal with you, your mom and your uncle?" she asked as they walked to Henry's school.

"It's not about us. It's about their curse." Henry replied.

"Their curse?" Emma asked, "I thought it was the Evil Queen who cast the curse."

"Well, Elias didn't cast it exactly, but he did help her do it." Henry clarified, "Anyway, we have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step one-identification. I call it Operation Cobra."

"Cobra?" asked Emma, "That has nothing to do with fairytales."

"Exactly. It's a code name to throw the queen and her brother off the trail." he explained.

"So everyone here is a fairytale character, they just don't know it?" she asked.

"That's the curse. Time's been frozen, until you got here." Henry said before noticing that Emma was about to take a bite out of an apple, "Hey! Where'd you get that?"

"Your mom." Emma answered in confusion at his outburst.

"Don't eat that!" he exclaimed as he took it and tossed it behind.

"Uh, alright, what about their pasts?"

"They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything, and you'll see."

"So for decades, people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed-up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious." Emma deduced even though she didn't believe a word of it.

"I knew you'd get it." Henry said cheerfully, "That's why we need you. You're the only one who can stop their curse."

"Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?"

"Yes, and right now we have the advantage. My mom and uncle don't know that. I took out the end, the part with you in it." Henry informed as he gave her the missing pages, "I know the hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. If you need proof, take them, read them, but whatever you do, don't let them see these pages. They're dangerous. If either of them finds out who you are…it would be bad." he said as they arrived at the school.

"I gotta go, but I'll find you later and we can get started. I knew you'd believe me!" he called as he went in.

"I never said I did!" Emma argued with a grin.

"Why else would you be here?" he countered as he ran past Mary Margaret.

"It's good to see his smile back." she said kindly as she walked up to Emma.

"I didn't do anything."

"You stayed." Mary Margaret countered, "So does the mayor know you're still here?"

"Oh, she knows." Emma nodded, "What is her deal? She is not a great people person. I could understand her brother but how did she get elected and not him?"

"Elias isn't really into politics and she's been the mayor as long as I can remember. No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. Fact of the matter is he's the only one not intimidated by her. She inspires quite a bit of…well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book. Now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."

"I meant to ask him, but who does he think Elias is?" Emma asked.

"After he told me who he thought everyone else was I asked him the same question." Mary Margaret explained before taking a deep breath and exhale from her worry, "And then he told me that the Evil Queen's brother was a terrible monster capable of wiping out an entire kingdom in just a single night."

"Wow." was all Emma said while Mary Margaret just nodded, "I guess Disney forgot about him and that little detail when he made that movie." she joked causing both of them to laugh. "But seriously, Nicholas a monster? The guy's a complete 180 of his sister. He's actually friendly, nice and a people person."

"I know, I know. But nowadays, Henry can't even look at him without looking a little scared. He's been like the father he never had for Henry. Ever since Regina brought him here, he's helped her raise him. All because of what he read in that book."

"Who does he think you are?" Emma asked.

"Oh, it's silly." chuckled the teacher.

"I just got five minutes of silly. Lay it on me." Emma smirked.

"Snow White." she replied, "Who does think you are?"

Emma paused for a moment before telling her that she wasn't in the book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon after the dark creatures left, Henry and his son consoled Regina as she stared at the extinguished fire pit. "Maybe it's for the best. The forces you're summoning are darker than we can conceive."offered Elias

"Oh, now you're trying to protect me?" Regina asked hotly.

"It's what we do." he replied with love.

"I know. You're the only ones who do."

"Helping you is my life." Henry added.

"Well, then help me understand why this curse isn't working."

"Sadly, If you want to know that,you have to go back to the person who gave it to you in the first place." Elias provided, "Revenge is a dark and lonely road. Once you go down it there is no turning back."

"What is there for me to head back to, Elias?" Regina asked softly.

In Storybrooke, Elias walked up to his sister on the ground picking up apples next to a severed branch from her tree. "what happened to your tree?" he asked as he smoked.

"Three guesses who." Regina bluntly replied.

"we'll saying as you framed Emma this morning I'd say that it was probably that." Elias stated as he blew a puff of smoke.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch the clouds go by or you going to help me?" his sister asked harshly.

"After that stunt you pulled with Emma at your office earlier your lucky I'm even talking to you." Elias retorted as he examined the tree.

"It was for his own good. Now Henry knows what that woman really thinks of him."

"Goddammit, Regina!" he snapped gaining her attention, "This is exactly what I was talking about. You're letting your personal issues with this woman cloud your view on how you should actually be handling the situation. And in case you have your head stuck too far up your ass to not know what that is, allow me to clarify: stop making it look like you're mistreating Henry."

"How am I mistreating him?"

"Well, for one thing, you went as far as to break his little heart by tricking Emma into saying this whole fairytale thing of his is crazy right in front of him." he snapped, "Sometimes I think you forget that while you may have your hands in everything in this town, there's only one person that has your back; me. And if you pull another stunt that hurts Henry like that again, I'll go over to Team Swan in a heartbeat."

"Is that so?" Regina asked as she stood up.

"You may be my sister, Regina. But Henry is my nephew and a child. He's not as hardened as we are. You might want to remember that before you do something that'll break his spirit again." Elias warned as he stomped off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Enchanted Forest, Elias watched his sister through the magic mirror as she placed a black rose on their father's grave after she enacted the dark curse. Tears streamed down his face over the death of his father and of what his sister had become as the smoke of the curse enveloped him.  
.


End file.
